Disseminating and assessing implementation of the EULAR recommendations for patient education in inflammatory arthritis : a mixed-methods study with patients’ perspectives

• Objectives: To explore patients’ agreement andreasons for agreement or disagreement with the EULAR recommendations for patient education (PE) for people with inflammatory arthritis (IA). Methods: This mixed-method survey collected data using snowball sampling. The survey had been translated into 20 languages by local healthcare professionals, researchers and patient research partners. It explored the degree towhich patients with IA agreed with each recommendationfor PE (0=do not agree at all and 10=agree completely)and their rationale for their agreement level in free text questions. Descriptive statistics summarised participants’ demographics and agreement levels. Qualitative contentanalysis was used to analyse the free text data. Sixteen subcategories were developed, describing the reasons foragreement or disagreement with the recommendations,which constituted the categories. Results: The sample comprised 2779 participants(79% female), with a mean (SD) age 55.1 (13.1) yearsand disease duration 17.1 (13.3) years. Participants strongly agreed with most recommendations (median10 (IQR: 9–10) for most recommendations). Reasonsfor agreement with the recommendations included thebenefit of using PE to facilitate collaborative care andshared decision making, the value of flexible and tailored PE, and the value of gaining support from other patients.Reasons for disagreement included lack of resources for PE, not wanting informa tion to be tailored by healthcare professionals and a reluctance to use telephone-basedPE. Conclusion: The EULAR recommendations for PE havebeen disseminated among patients with IA. Overall, agreement levels were very high, suggesting that they reflect patients’ preferences for engaging in collaborative clinical care and using PE to facilitate and supplement their own understanding of IA. Reasons for not completely agreeing with the recommendations can inform implementation strategies and education of healthcare professionals. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Eular-recommendation

Patients

Patient education

Mixed methods

Rheumatology

Information driven care

Informationsdriven vård

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)